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Macmillan, Keith
Under the pseudonym Keef, Macmillan was the director of the videos for the songs Wuthering Heights, The Man With The Child In His Eyes, Them Heavy People, Hammer Horror, Wow, Breathing, Babooshka, and Army Dreamers, as well as the concert video Kate Bush Live At The Hammersmith Odeon.
A brief transcript of an interview with Keith Macmillan is available in the Cloudbusting section.
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Magician of Lublin, The
A 1978 film directed by Menahem Golan, and starring Alan Arkin, Valerie Perrine, and Shelley Winters. The plot, based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, tells of a travelling magician in turn of the century Poland whose deceptions and constant womanizing lead him to disgrace. For this film, Kate sang the theme song The Magician.
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Magician, The
The theme song for the film The Magician Of Lublin. The song was composed by Maurice Jarre with lyrics by Paul Webster, the music performed by London Symphony Orchestra. In the film, the song can barely be heard over dialogue, and it is not available on record.
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Man I Love, The
Kate and harmonica player Larry Adler perform this song by George and Ira Gershwin on the tribute album The Glory Of Gershwin.
The release of the song as a single in the UK was accompanied by a video; interviewed on Britain's satellite news channel Sky News, a beaming Larry Adler recalled the making of the video:
"When we made the video together -- the one you just showed a bit of -- I had gout in my foot, and whenever I had to go to my bedroom, Kate would escort me like a nurse, and I just was so charmed by her."
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Man With The Child In His Eyes, The
A song on the album The Kick Inside, one of two from that album which were produced by Dave Gilmour in 1975.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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Mandocello
An instrument played by Paddy Bush on the song Kashka From Baghdad.
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Mandolin
A pear-shaped fretted lute dating back to the 17th Century, having four to six pairs of strings, played with a plectrum. The mandolin is played by Paddy Bush on the songs Oh To Be In Love and Wow.
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Mariee Etait En Noir, La
A 1967 film directed by Francois Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau and Michel Lonsdale, based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich. A determined woman sets out to trap and kill the five men responsible for the death of her husband. Also known as The Bride Wore Black, this film provided the inspiration for the song The Wedding List.
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Martin Ford Orchestra, The
Strings on the songs Blow Away and The Wedding List.
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Martin, George
(b. 1926) This legendary British record producer is best known for his crucial role in shaping the sound of the Beatles. Martin first came to public attention as the head of EMI's Parlophone label in 1955, where he originally produced classical and jazz recordings, then developed Parlophone's reputation for releasing original comedy albums by the likes of Flanders and Swann, The Goons (featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan) and Beyond The Fringe (with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore), and Rolf Harris. In April 1962, Martin was recommended to Beatles manager Brian Epstein as a man who had achieved success with unlikely recording artists, and who was looking for an entry into the growing world of pop music; this led to one of the most successful partnerships in popular music, and guaranteed lasting fame for EMI's Abbey Road Studios. In August 1965, following an acrimonious split with EMI over their shoddy business practices, Martin and several other EMI people left to form Associated Independent Recording, a collective-type operation which went on to build two highly successful AIR Studios, one in London and one in Montserrat. More than thirty years later, George Martin has maintained his reputation as one of the top record producers in the world.
George Martin worked with Kate on recording the song The Man I Love for the tribute album The Glory Of Gershwin.
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Martin, Pat
The bass player of the group Unicorn. Martin played on a trio of demos recorded at Dave Gilmour's home studio in 1973; of these, only Passing Through Air was ever released to the public.
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Maureen
Kate's aunt, named in the song Moments of Pleasure.
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Maybe
A provisional title given to a song which was recorded as a demo version on two separate occasions, but which was never released to the public. It is available only on bootleg recordings; see the Phoenix section for more information.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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McAlea, Kevin
(b. 10 April 1949) A pianist, keyboardist, saxophone and twelve-string guitar player, born to a highly musical family in Belfast. Before joining the Tour Of Life in 1979, McAlea had played in various groups in Ireland, France, and England (including the early Seventies band Skid Row) and did extensive session work (including keyboards on the first two solo albums by X-Ray Specs vocalist Poly Styrene). Interested in electronic music, McAlea built his own synthesizers, one of which he used on the Tour. Kate has also mentioned that McAlea would play classical piano pieces for her during recording sessions; the liner notes of the album Never For Ever thank "Kevin McAlea for his ingenuity and for playing me Chopin." McAlea played his home-built synth to accompany Kate's piano parts during her performance of the song December Will Be Magic Again on the television special Kate, and plays synthesizer on the songs Waking The Witch and The Morning Fog.
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McInnerny, Tim
A British actor and comedian, best known in America for his varied roles in the Blackadder television series. McInnerny portrays Kate's father-in-law in the Comic Strip film Les Dogs, and the male lead in the video for the song This Woman's Work.
Trivia: Throughout the song This Woman's Work, the hero is addressed as "darling."
Q: The name of McInnerny's character in Blackadder Goes Forth?
A: Captain Darling.
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McIntosh, Danny
McIntosh plays guitar on the songs Rubberband Girl, The Red Shoes, Constellation Of The Heart, Top Of The City, The Song Of Solomon, and Lily.
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Medicci Sextet, The
Strings on the song Cloudbusting, arranged by Dave Lawson.
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Mendelsohn, Julian
An engineer who mixed the songs Hounds Of Love and Mother Stands For Comfort.
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Mercer, Bob
Former director of marketing and repertoire for EMI. In 1975, Dave Gilmour played a demo tape of Kate for Mercer during the recording of the Pink Floyd album Wish You Were Here. Mercer eventually agreed to sign Kate to the label, allowing her a somewhat unique two year "training period" in which to develop her talents before being exposed to the public -- an unusual investment on the part of a record label, but one which should be emulated.
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Middleton, Max
A former member of the Jeff Beck band and an experienced session musician, Middleton plays Fender Rhodes on the songs Babooshka, Blow Away, The Wedding List, Breathing, and Egypt; Mini-Moog on the song Egypt; and wrote the string arrangement for the Martin Ford Orchestra on the songs Blow Away and The Wedding List.
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Mini Moog
A monophonic (single note) synthesizer. Played by Max Middleton, this instrument provides the breathtaking solo at the coda of Egypt.
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Mna Na h-Eireann
A popular Irish poem, sung by Kate on the 1996 album Common Ground (Celtic Voices) compiled by Donal Lunny. Versions of the song have previously been recorded by artists including Sinead O'Connor, Susan McKeown, and The Chieftans (the latter on the soundtrack of the film Barry Lyndon).
Not speaking Gaelic, Kate was obliged to learn the lyrics phonetically. In the 29 May 1996 edition of the Irish music paper Hot Press, producer Donal Lunny described Kate's involvement in the project:
"Kate had, via Bill Whelan, assembled a group of Irish musicians to play on a number of her albums. I know Bill developed a close friendship with her which is more than I've had time or opportunity to do. But Kate and I did have a couple of very nice phone calls since we last worked together. When I rang her up about this, her interest was immediate. That was very gratifying. She had taken a year off from work of any kind and this was bang in the middle of it. She opened herself to several weeks' work by taking it on, maybe more than she bargained for. I knew she'd be good and she didn't give up until it was right. She's a real joy to work with. She is exceptionally considerate and thoughtful with people. Add to that how much she cares about what she does and the fact that she will not do something unless she feels she can give of her best. Hats off. She's a wonderful woman. She was very excited with the idea of singing the Irish in a way that Irish speakers would understand. And of conveying the meaning of the song through the sounds of the words. I helped as much as I could. She had Sean O Se's recording of Mna Na h-Eireann as reference. She was as faithful to the pronunciations as she could possibly be. It was with characteristic care and attention that she approached it. She did not stint one bit. Of course you'll get people saying , 'Oh ,you'd know she doesn't talk Irish straight off '. You wouldn't know it straight off. I would defend her efforts as being totally sincere. No matter how perfect she gets it, she's not an Irish speaker. This may rankle with some people."
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Moments Of Pleasure (EP)
An EP including the songs Moments Of Pleasure and Show A Little Devotion.
This EP is also listed in the Discography section.
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Moments Of Pleasure (song)
A song on the album The Red Shoes which evokes friends and relatives Kate has lost over the years. Some of the references (such as "George The Wipe") are cryptic, but among those acknowledged are Bill Duffield, Gary Hurst, John Barrett, Alan Murphy, the director Michael Powell, Kate's aunt Maureen, and her mother Hannah.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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Monkman, Francis
A founding member of the groups Curved Air and Sky who also did session work for Alan Parsons. Monkman plays Hammond organ on the songs Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake and Fullhouse, and plays harpsichorde on the song Oh England My Lionheart.
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Moon, Keith
(23 August 1947 - 7 September 1977) Drummer for the seminal British rock group the Who, Moon is named in the song Blow Away.
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Moran, Mike
A session musician who plays the Prophet 5 keyboard on the song Egypt.
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Morgan, Charlie
A member of the original KT Bush Band and drummer on the Tour Of Life, Morgan plays drums on the songs Wow, Kashka From Baghdad, The Big Sky, Waking The Witch, The Sensual World, Reaching Out, Deeper Understanding, Walk Straight Down The Middle, and Rocket Man; he shares percussive duties with Stuart Elliott on the songs Hounds Of Love, Cloudbusting, Jig of Life, and The Song Of Solomon. Morgan has also played on many recent albums by Elton John.
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Morning Fog, The
The conclusion of the song-cycle The Ninth Wave on the album Hounds Of Love.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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Morris, Desmond
A zoologist, former Curator of Mammals at London Zoo, and popular author of many, many books on ethology and behavior, including The Naked Ape. As host of the television program Friday Night Saturday Morning, Morris interviewed Kate on 21 November 1981.
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Mother Stands For Comfort
A song on the album Hounds Of Love. By Kate's account, the coldness of the synthetic sounds used on this song are meant to reflect the coldness of the person described in the lyrics -- a murderer who is using his mother to protect him from the law.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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Moving
Opening song on the album The Kick Inside. The lyrics are in part a tribute to mime and movement teacher Lindsay Kemp.
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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Murphy, Alan
(18 November 1954 - 19 October 1989) Kate's regular guitarist for a decade, a talented self-taught musician who first took up the guitar at age fourteen. Before joining Kate on the Tour Of Life in 1979, Murphy had aldready done a great deal of session work, including appearances on albums by Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry. When not touring, he played pub gigs with his friend Preston Heyman, who first brought him to the attention of Kate Bush. Murphy joined the group Level 42 on the album Staring At The Sun, and also played as a member of the groups Go West and Mike And The Mechanics.
Alan Murphy died of AIDS in Westminster City Hospital on 19 October 1989; he had kept the facts of his illness a secret even from his colleagues and bandmates. The song Rocket Man was the last track he performed on to be released. The song Moments of Pleasure recalls Murph, "playing his guitar refrain."
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My Lagan Love
A song released as the b-side of the 12-inch single Cloudbusting (The Orgonon Mix).
This song is also listed in the Discography section.
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Myatt, Tony
A radio presenter, host of the Late Show on Capitol Radio, whose early championing of the single Wuthering Heights greatly helped its success.